A Night on the Town, Ramadan Style

Greetings all,

Last night, Wednesday, was the start to our weekend, so a group of families went out together to Chili's restaurant, a popular American chain. We were rather ready for a break from the hotel's offering during the iftar meal, and it seemed a perfect spot. During Ramadan in Saudi Arabia when Muslims are fasting during the day, restaurants are not open until evening. They begin to open to customers after 6 p.m. Though the tables at Chili's were set with iftar offerings of sweet dates and apricots, no one but children were eating and no one could order food until an announcement was made in the restaurant that iftar could begin. We spread out around a couple of large tables and enjoyed a delicious, though slightly different, American-style meal of hamburgers, fries, fajitas, buffalo wings, nachos ... After eating, the children all discovered a large outside eating area, complete with fountains and a play structure. Sweaty and red-faced, they climbed and jumped and ran, darting inside periodically for a quick drink. Logan at first thought it would be perfect to simply cool off himself in the fountain, but we didn't think it was particularly hygienic!

After much conversation and eating, the dads took the kids home for baths and bed, and several moms went to Starbucks. It must be difficult to do business as Starbucks in Jeddah right now because it is closed all day until 9 p.m. at which time it opens until 2 a.m. We nearly entered in the singles' door, which is really intended only for men, but then we discovered the family entrance for women, children, and men with spouses or families. No one was there except two young men behind the counter. The coffee was excellent, as always. About twenty minutes after opening, Starbucks must close again for the evening prayer. We were not asked to leave, but if we chose to stay, we could NOT leave for about 15 minutes. Since we were in the family section, the frosted windows prevented anyone from looking in at us, and we had a very quiet and enjoyable evening. The evening concluded with a hilarious and rather hair-raising taxi ride to ToysRUs, also open after 9 p.m., for a Monopoly game and some blocks. We tried out our minimal Arabic language skills with the Yemeni driver who laughed and then shushed us each time he received a phone call.

For the last week, we have been commuting to KAUST campus from the Marriott in Jeddah on large buses. It's about 1-1.5 hours each way, so a lot of reading gets done. The houses and schools are nearly finished, and we have set up the schools' libraries for the Secondary School, the Elementary School, and the Early Childhood School (3-5 year olds). Logan has visited his classroom and played blocks with his teachers (whom he already knew from 5 weeks in the hotel); Hayden too knows his teachers and visited his school for a writing sample 'test'. The boys are learning to call their teachers by Mr. and Ms. now, rather than the familiar first names we have been using. David and I have met many of our incoming students as they come in for interviews and math/writing tests in the secondary school, and we are now trying to piece together the details of our schedules based on student numbers and those students who are committed to single gender versus co-education. We have satisfying moments and days, as well as challenging ones. The hotel gets tiresome, of course, but some people who have moved have rat problems, and I would rather be in the hotel! We have seen our house, we think, and it's looking more and more complete. No one really anticipated we would be here in Jeddah this long, but at least we are not here alone. Some our colleagues have moved to campus, but many of the families are still here ...

We are off to London next weekend to spend three nights in the city and three nights in Surrey with a family I stayed with for a week during college; even in that short time such a long time ago, they became part of my family, and now I will get to introduce my own family to my "English family."

Thanks for reading. Jennifer